When insulating structures, typically residential homes, the installer often encounters framing members that are spaced apart at nonstandard distances less than the standard spacing relationship. When insulating these elongated cavities of various nonstandard widths, less than a standard width, it has been the practice to take an insulation batt preformed to fit the standard cavity width and reduce the width of the insulation batt by cutting off and removing a strip of insulation material from one or both longitudinal edges of the insulation batt. This method of trimming the insulation batts at the job sight by cutting the batts to fit between the more closely spaced support members is time consuming, raises a significant risk or safety issue and relies heavily on the worker's skill to accurately trim the batt or panel.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,551,677 to Weinstein et al., entitled “Facing for Pre-Cut Fibrous Insulation Blankets”, issued Apr. 22, 2003, (Weinstein I) the entirety of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein, describes an elongated insulation blanket that has a series of cuts extending between the major surfaces of the blankets with successive cuts being separated by a series of separable connectors located intermediate the major surfaces of the blanket. Each series of separable connectors holds together adjacent sections of the blanket for handling, but are separable by hand so that the blanket can be handled as a unit for insulating a cavity having a predetermined width or separated by hand into two or more sections at one or more of the series of the separable connectors for insulating a cavity having a lesser, nonstandard width. The blanket has a facing bonded thereto by a bonding agent, having one or more perforated lines in the facing that permit the facing to be separated by hand at each series of cuts and separable connectors.
Although Weinstein I provides a modular mat that can be separated into insulation mats of smaller widths, the use of a perforated facing layer raises several issues. For example, additional steps must be employed to form perforations in the facing layer. Further, it is believed that the perforations may provide breaches in the vapor barrier provided by the facing layer if the bonding agent does not fully or adequately fill the perforations. These localized vapor barrier failures compromise the effectiveness of the insulation mat when the mat is used with, for example, support members spaced at standard widths, i.e., when the separable segments of the mat are not removed.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,468,615 to Weinstein et al., entitled “Pre-Cut Fibrous Insulation Blanket”, issued Oct. 22, 2002 (Weinstein II), the entirety of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein, also describes insulation mats having permeable sheets on a first and/or second major surface of that mat, where the permeable sheets are separable by hand due to the low tear strength of the sheets. The sheets are described as having the tear strength about equal to the tear strength or tensile strength of facial or bathroom tissue. These permeable sheets are not vapor barrier facing layers, which are also shown coupled to the mats.
Therefore, there is a need for an insulation product, and method of making the same, that can be formed into sections having nonstandard widths, but without significant field work and without compromising the vapor barrier formed on the insulation product.